Will you be my friend?

I’d love if we could be Instagram friends! You can find me right here.

But social media isn’t just for friends these days.

If you’ve been reading my articles for awhile, you know that I have a soft spot in my heart for brands with a strong social media presence. Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com, Wendy’s, MoonPie, and Netflix have figured out their target demographics and are killing it with their social networking.

One mistake a lot of businesses make is trying to be everywhere at once.

DON’T DO THAT.

You don’t need to be on every platform, you only need to be where your customers are.

Before I dive into how you can use social media networks to ⭐ level-up 🍄 your marketing game, I thought I’d do a little analysis of the different platforms available to you.

I highly recommend you check out this post by Sprout Social, where they do a deep-dive into the demographics of each social media platform.

Facebook.

If you’re on just one platform, make it Facebook. Customers expect every business to have a Facebook presence. Fortunately for you, Facebook is also the best space to engage with your customers. Through paid advertisements, live videos, and smart use of chatbots; you’ll be ready with the answers when customers arrive at your page.

Instagram.

An image-based sharing site, Instagram is all about visual storytelling. If your brand is product- or results-based, you’ll want to curate a feed that engages and entices your customers. Instagram has several features you should take advantage of, including Stories and the newer IGTV.

LinkedIn.

Created for professionals, LinkedIn is perfect for networking if you’re a B2B type of business. This is a place where you can share your industry knowledge and free, valuable content.

Twitter.

Twitter is the best place to take advantage of trending content. It’s heavily text- and hashtag-based. Many people use Twitter to call out customer service issues, so make sure you are ready to respond to them in an appropriate and timely manner. Most people don’t say good things about brands on Twitter, so take control of the narrative by posting relevant, reTweetable content

YouTube, Pinterest and Snapchat.

YouTube is a video platform that’s great for teaching about physical products and sharing educational content.

Pinterest, like Instagram, is heavily image-based and an excellent way to get traffic to your site if you sell products or services. Many bloggers get the majority of their traffic from Pinterest.

Snapchat might be on its way out, but if your business has a physical location, a Snapchat geotag is a good way to get customers to advertise for you.

Now that you know a little bit about the different platforms, I can’t wait to tell you how you can use them to network your way to tremendous success!

Find out more in the Social Marketing Academy- an online learning platform that teaches business owners and entrepreneurs how to effectively sell their products online, gain awareness in their markets, and grow their list. Join now for $1.